Improvement in horse hay-rakes



W. S. ARCHER.

Horse Hay-Rakes. `N0`.\49,704. Patented April 14, 1874.

lime/'liar' the/'socket above referred to.

UNITEDSTATES PATENT DEEICE;

WILLIAM s. ARCHER, OE DAYTON, OHIO, AssIGNOR OE THREE-EOURrHs HIs RIGHTTo CHARLES R. OLEGG, E. MORGAN woon, `Ann GEORGE A. ARCHER, OF SAMEPLACE.

IMPROVEMENT -|N HORSE HAY-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No .149,7o4, earedAprn14,1ev4; applicati@ inea March 5, 1874.

To all whomt may concer-u Be it known that I, WILLIAM S; ARCHER,

ot' Dayton, in the County of Montgomery and 4in g or oscillatin g frame,adjusting devices for the purpose of regulating the position of thelowerl ends of the teeth with reference to the ground over which therake passes, and for determining, to some extent, the amount of tensionwhich is put upon the upper or fixed ends of the teeth; and it furtherconsists in the construction of the guides which determine the lateralpositions of the teeth; and, lastly, in the construction, combination,and arrangement of certain of the parts of which the machine iscomposed, all as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved mav chine, showing the parts inposition for gatherin g its load. Fig. 2 is a transverse verticalsection on line vm of Fig. 1, showing the parts in position forreceiving their load. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the axle, oneof the rake-teeth, and ofthe socket which secures said tooth to thebarof the oscillating frame, said bar being also shown. Fig. 4 is a'planview of Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, showing the bifurcated arm Ywhichattaches the oscillating frame to the axlethe method of attachingit thereto, and the xed and adjustable bars of said frame; and Fig. 6 isa perspective view oi' the guide for the teeth, which is secured to theadj ustable bar of the oscillating frame.

Corresponding letters denote corresponding parts in all ofthe figures.

In constructing rakes of this character I use an axle, A,`oi` anysuitable form and length, to the outer ends of which the carryingwheelsB B are attached in the usual manner, so that they may rotate freelythereon. To the axle v the thills or shafts B are attached, they beingof such a length as to allow ot there be- Aing attached to them across-bar, C, for holding the forward ends of bars D D, which supportthelocking device,`andfthe mechanism for operating the oscillatin g frame,their length forward of said bar being snlicient to allow ot' theirbeing properly attached to the animal which draws the rake. The bars D Dabove A referred to extend from the axleA to and rest upon thetransverse bar C, and serve as supports for the journals of thesegmental gear, to which a handle is attached, for a purpose soon to bedescribed. Extending from one of the shafts B to one of the bars D thereis a transverse bar, F, which is so arranged with reference to the bar Cas, togetherwith said bar, to form a support for the armV F1, whichcarries the drivers seat'F'z, theposition and arrangement of said armand seat being clean ly shown in Fig. 1 ot' the drawing.

rlhe above-referred-to parts may be of any form andmaterial that willadapt them to receive and support the operating parts which may becomenecessary to attach'to them; but, as they, when separately considered,formy no party ot' my present invention, they will not be moreparticularly described here.

The operating parts of the rake, they being those which constitute inthemselves and in their combinations and arrangements the pres entinvention, will now be described. v

In order that the hay, grain, and other materials which are to begathered by this device may be properly collected'and delivered in amass, or, as it is usually termed, in windrows, there are placed uponthe axle A, in any suitable positions, brackets or boxes 1 1, which areadapted for the reception of projections 2 2, whichsare attachedto'bifurcated arms or levers 3, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, said arms orlevers being so constructed that'theirupper portion'may be attached tothe bracket or boxes 1 1 upon the upper surface of the axle theforwardends of the lower and longer porto allow it to come in contact with theaxle A,

-horizontal position near the ground in consetions of the arms or levers3a transverse beam, 4, is secured, the outer surfaces of said beam beingprovided with suitable surfaces for their reception. This beam, when inposition, is parallel with the axle A, and to it areattached sockets 5,of peculiar construction, soon to be described, which receive and retainthe peculiarly-formed teeth 6 of the rake.

These sockets are of the form shown in Fig. 3, they being provided withflanges, through which screws or bolts pass for securing them to thebeam 4, and with a slotted and recessed projection for entering saidbeam, and for receiving the teeth. This projection may be slotted uponits rear surface, as shown, so as to allow the rear portions of thedownwardlyprojecting part of thetooth to come in contact with the woodof the beam, as it may have a pla-te of metal inserted into it in such away asto form a metallic surface for said downwardly-projecting portionto rest against; in either case itis important that the rear end of thatportion which is secured to the beam 4 should be slotted, as shown inFig. 3, in order that when the lower end of the tooth to which any oneof the sockets is attached comes in contact with any obstruction inpassing` overA the ground, said tooth may be allowed tofyield or springin said socket to such an extent as as shown in Fig. 3 5 and this, tosome extent, relieves the strain upon said socket, and at the same timeprevents the tooth from being broken in the socket.

The teeth 6 6 of the rake may be made of round rods of steel, or of anyother suitable material, such as hickory, oak, ash, or other kinds oftough wood, steamed and bent into the proper form, the requirementsbeing that they should be sufficiently strong to retain their load, andsufficiently springy not to break when coming in contact with' stones orother obstructions when in use.

The peculiar form to be given to theseA teeth is well shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing, where it will be seen that they are in position forgathering a load, and that that portion thereof which is under the axleis in contact therewith, while their lower ends assume a nearly quenceof the peculiar curvature given to them. This form of tooth isimportant, for the reason4 that it enables the operator to change thelower end thereof from the nearly horizontal position shown in Fig. 2,which is in its best position for gathering its load, to a nearlyvertical position, which is the proper one for discharging the same withthe least possible amount of movement of the oscillating frame, whichcarries said teeth, and which consists ofthe bifurcated arms or levers 33, transverse bar 4, and a bar, 7, for adjusting the lower ends of theteeth with reference to the ground, or to their distance therefrom.

The adjustable bar above alluded to consists of a piece of wood or metalattached to the rear ends ofthe bifurcated arms or levers 3 3,

they being provided with a verticallyextended surface, projectingslightly from the general one, so as to form a guide for ablock ofmetal, 8, ,which has a recess formed in its inner face to iit upon theprojections on the arm or lever, the adjustable bar and the block ofmetal being attached thereto by screws or bolts in such a manner thatthey can be moved up or4 down thereon, as it becomes desirable to causethe lower ends of the teeth to assume a position nearer to or fartherfrom the ground. Upon the adjustable bar 7, and embracing each of theteeth of fthe rake, there is placed a double slotted guide, 9, itspeculiar construction being shownin Fig. 6, where it is represented asadapted to span the bar 7, and to form a double support laterally forthe teeth. This guide may be made of sheet or cast metal, or

of wood, its peculiar form of construction being designed to form a moreperfect support againstthe lateral movement of the teeth, by presenting.two surfaces for them to bear against. The slots in these guides are tobe of such a length as to form a stop for the teeth after they have comein contact with the axle, so that any binding which takes place afterthe teeth have been forced upward to the upper surface of the slotsshall be between that point and their outer ends.

In order that the oscillating frame, above alluded" to, and its teethmay be properly manipulated by the person in attendance, there isattached to .the front beam, 4, of said frame ay segmental gear, 10,which has upon its periphery a segmental surface provided with cogs, thelower end of said cogged or toothed portion being attached to the beam,while from its rear portion there extends an arm, to which theadjustable beam 7 is attached. The toothed portion of this gear is ofsuch form that when it and the teeth of the rake are in the positionsshown in Fig. 2 the leverage of the other segmental gear, 11, upon itwill be long, but will regularly decrease as the lever l2 is turned fromthe position shown in said iigure toward the one in which it is placedfor discharging its load, as a consequence of which the labor requiredof the operator to discharge the load from the rake will be slight, aswhen the parts are in the positions shown in Fig. l the leverage of thegear 10 upon the one marked 1l is slight, and only a slight pressureupon the handle l2 will be required to keep the parts in that positionuntil a load has been accumulated. When that result has beenaccomplished the operator has only to release the lever of the pressurewhich he had previously been putting upon it, and the resistanceoii'ered by the load will cause the beam 4 to swing first downward andthen backward in the segment of a circle, and will thus aid in carryingthe parts into a position to discharge the contents. As the beam 4starts from the position shown in Fig. 2 the resistance offered by the lload has the eii'ect to oscillate the frame, such ei'ect being aconstantly-increasing one from the time it leaves such position untilthe beam their load, this being easily effected on account ofthe form ofthe gears 10 and 11, which, as

' represented in Fig. 2, is such as vto increase .the leverage upon theoscillating frame at that time; and thus, as will be seen, when' theresistance upon the teeth of the rake begins to diminish, in consequenceof the fact, that the beam 4 has been carried to the rearV of itspivoted point, and in rising in the rear thereof,

the leverage of the gears is 'increased as a consequence of theirparticular form, and the load Vis discharged with the expenditure of theminimum of power. Should it be desirable to lock the oscillating framein position when the rake is 'gathering its` load, the dog 13, (shown inFigs. l and 2,) which is pivoted to one of the bars D, may be broughtinto requisition by pressing forward its upper end, and thus causing itslower end to catch upon the beam 4, which will hold the teeth in theposition'shown in Fig. 2, and when it is desirable to release theoscillating frame from its control it is only necessary to pressbackward upon its upper end, and, as above stated, the resistanceoffered by the load will start the frame toward the position'which it isto occupy when it discharges said load. Another use to which this dog isapplied is to hold the oscillating frame in such a position as to leavethe lower ends of the teeth at the required distance from the ground,when the machine is being moved from one field to another, by allowingthe front side of the beam 4 to come in contact with its lower beveledend, when its upper end is thrown forward to its full extent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The oscillating frame which carries the rake-teeth, hinged to theaxle by means of bifurcatedarms or levers, curved so as to bring therake-head beneath and forward of p the axle when the teeth are in theirraking position, substantially as described, and for the purpose setforth.

2. The guide-bar 7, adjustable 011 its supporting-arm, in combinationwith the bifurcated arms or levers 3, sliding blocks 8, the xed bar 4,and the teeth 6, the parts being arranged to operate substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. rIhe double slotted guide 9, when made to span the adjustable bar7,"and thus form a double support against the lateral movement of theteeth at that point.

4. The socket, when constructed in elbow form, and with a slot in itsupper surface, through or into which a portion of the tooth maypass whenits lower end meets with any unusual obstruction, and a groove in itslower surface, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

5. The arrangement of the teeth of the rake in the oscillating frame,and with reference to the axle of the machine, whereby said teetharemade to bear against said axle, and are thus prevented from beingbroken.

6. The combination, in a horse-rake, of an oscillating frame,constructed and arranged substantially as herein described, andsegmental gears having a greater amount of leverage at one of theirterminal points thanat the other, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

Witnesses: WILLIAM S. ARCHER.

B. PIGKERING, W. H. CLARK.

